Civil society organizations and local residents have called on the Myanmar government to cancel the U.S. $3.6 billion Chinese-financed Myitsone Dam on the Irrawaddy River in Kachin state, which was put on hold in 2011 following public opposition to the controversial hydropower project, RFA reported.

More than 1,000 environmentalists and villagers urged officials to abandon plans for the 6,000-megawatt dam during a ceremony at the confluence of the Mali and N'Mai rivers to mark the seventh anniversary of the temporary suspension of the project by former President Thein Sein.

State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who as opposition leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party was one of the dam’s most vocal opponents, assured Chinese leaders after the NLD won the 2015 general elections that Myanmar was willing to come up with an appropriate resolution that would suit both countries, the report said.